A letter from an Alberta recruiter points out that doctors working in the province's "resource rich oil economy" aren't facing salary freezes or cuts in health care spending.

In fact, Alberta doctors stand to receive a 2% increase in fees.

Dr. Victor Varma, president of the Kent Medical Society, said he and his colleagues have received similar letters for some time - particularly from Alberta and Saskatchewan.

The Chatham-Kent Health Alliance radiologist has been targeted in what he believes is a "first wave" of recruitment efforts.

Given the situation between the OMA and the province, he added, "I have a feeling we're going to see an increase in these letters."

Established physicians with families and kids in school are less apt to want to get up and move.

"That being said, these are the beginning of the cuts . . . who knows where it ends?" Varma said.

He said physicians are not being consulted about changes the province wants to make to the health care system.

"We're just being told this is how it is," he added.

It's common knowledge Ontario's manufacturing base isn't what it used to be, Varma said, which is impacting tax revenues. This, coupled with an aging population, is driving up the cost of health care, he added.

"I'm willing to go along with the government in making some changes, but please come to me to help make those changes, don't dictate those changes to me," Varma said.

There's a concern he said, that bureaucrats are making changes without consulting physicians about how to save money and improve the system.

Varma moved to Ontario from Alberta to be close to family, and he isn't interested in moving back.

But, he is alarmed about the potential of budget cutbacks limiting procedures doctors can perform for patients, or prohibiting certain tests from being ordered. He noted one of the things being talked about is de-listing OHIP covered patients who need a CT Scan or MRI for back pain.

"The question is: At what point does it get to that you feel like you can't practice medicine the way you should be practising medicine?" Varma said.

He believes this situation may make it difficult to attract new physicians to Ontario.

"That's definitely a disincentive to come to a jurisdiction."

Varma said Chatham-Kent has worked very hard at its recruiting efforts resulting in a good complement of new physicians in the last two years.

Sudbury doctor Dr. Pierre Leon Bonin, who is on the executive of the OMA, said most physicians in Ontario receive about four or five recruitment letters a week on average. He said the number has "just skyrocketed" in recent months.

Ontario doctors are upset Health Minister Deb Mathews continues to describe the government's dispute with the OMA as a battle over salaries, he said, when the province is forcing physicians to absorb the cost of new services needed by a growing and aging population.

Just because doctors bill OHIP, it doesn't mean the amount is all income, Bonin said.

According to Matthews, Ontario has increased the budget for doctors' compensation by $5.1 billion over eight years.